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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a televised address to the nation in Yerevan, Armenia, in this picture released September 24, 2023. "We are convinced that the Yerevan leadership is making a massive mistake by deliberately trying to destroy Armenia's multi-faceted and centuries-old ties with Russia while making the country hostage to the geopolitical games of the West," it said. Moscow denied suggestions that it had any hand in protests in Yerevan and cautioned Pashinyan that while Russia did not stoke revolutions, the West did. "The head of the Armenian government should be well aware that Moscow does not get involved in such things - unlike the West which is pretty adept at organizing 'colour revolutions'," Russia said. Russia blames the United States for stoking so-called colour revolutions in several post-Soviet republics including Ukraine.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Armenian, REUTERS, Rights, Karabakh, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Yerevan, Armenia, Handout, Russia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Moscow, Baku, Azerbaijan, Russian, United States, Ukraine

The sources said other senior Russian energy officials would also be in the delegation. Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, and Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, did not immediately reply to requests for comments. The proposed pipeline would bring gas from the Yamal peninsula fields in western Siberia to China, the world's top energy consumer and a growing gas consumer. China and Russia have yet to agree on the terms of gas deliveries via the route, including pricing. Negotiations are complex, in part because China is not expected to need more gas until after 2030, industry analysts said.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Rosneft Igor Sechin, Yuri Trutnev, Alexei Miller, Igor Sechin, Vladimir Putin's, Putin, Xi Jinping, Sechin, Xi, Vladimir Soldatkin, Gareth Jones, Guy Faulconbridge, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Zvezda, Gazprom, Reuters, China's, Moscow, Thomson Locations: Bolshoy Kamen, Vladivostok, Russia, Ukraine, MOSCOW, China, Beijing, Moscow, Russian, Asia, Europe, Siberia, Mongolia

☆ Russian rouble firms against euro, steady vs dollar
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

At 1452 GMT, the rouble was steady against the dollar at 96.24 and had gained 0.6% to trade at 101.98 versus the euro . The move should lead to extra government revenues - as much as 600 billion roubles ($6.23 billion) per year, according to seven Reuters sources - and could also buttress the rouble. The government said the duty would not apply if the rouble strengthened beyond 80 to the dollar. Otherwise it would range from 4% to 7%, reaching its maximum if the rouble was weaker than 95 per dollar. Russian stock indexes were lower, with the dollar-denominated RTS index (.IRTS) down 0.5% to 995 points and the rouble-based MOEX Russian index (.IMOEX) down 0.4% at 3,036.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Russia's, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, European Central Bank, Federal Reserve, Thomson Locations: Russian, Moscow

☆ Thirty-four years after fleeing Azerbaijan, a Karabakh Armenian is on the move again
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Hasmik Khachatryan/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsGORIS, Armenia, Sept 25 (Reuters) - For the second time in his life, Samvel Alaverdyan is fleeing Azerbaijan. Now he has escaped from Karabakh itself, where Azerbaijan mounted a lightning offensive last week to end three decades of de facto independence for the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who lived there. The 45-year-old ex-policeman, who said he had been working as a civilian on a Karabakh Armenian military base, is one of the first Armenians to escape the Karabakh capital of Stepanakert, which the Azeris call Khankendi. Samvel has previous military experience with Karabakh forces and his son Hayk was serving in the Karabakh Armenian army until last week. Russia will work on ensuring that the rights of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh are respected, Peskov added.

Persons: Hasmik, Samvel Alaverdyan, Alaverdyan, Monika, Hayk, Samvel, “, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Felix Light, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Karabakh, Nissan, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Stepanakert, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Baku, Armenian, Goris, Yerevan, Soviet, Sumgait, I'm, Charentsavan, Azerbaijani, Russia, Moscow, Azeri, Turkish

☆ Russia lifts export ban on low-quality diesel, marine fuel
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

It also lifted restrictions on the export of fuel already accepted for export by the Russian Railways and Transneft (TRNF_p.MM) before the initial ban had been announced last week. The ban on all types of gasoline and high-quality diesel remains in place. Russia in recent months has suffered shortages of gasoline and diesel. Wholesale fuel prices have spiked, although retail prices are capped to try to curb them in line with official inflation. The crunch has been especially painful in some parts of Russia's southern breadbasket, where fuel is crucial for gathering the harvest.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Vladimir Soldatkin, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Russian, Russian Railways, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, breadbasket

☆ Russia Tells Armenian PM: You Are Making a Big Mistake by Flirting With West
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

"We are convinced that the Yerevan leadership is making a massive mistake by deliberately trying to destroy Armenia's multi-faceted and centuries-old ties with Russia while making the country hostage to the geopolitical games of the West," it said. Pashinyan's remarks about transforming alliances indicate that he is preparing to pivot away from Armenia's alliance with Moscow towards the West, the Russian foreign ministry said. Moscow denied suggestions that it had any hand in protests in Yerevan and cautioned Pashinyan that while Russia did not stoke revolutions, the West did. "The head of the Armenian government should be well aware that Moscow does not get involved in such things - unlike the West which is pretty adept at organizing 'colour revolutions'," Russia said. Russia blames the United States for stoking so-called colour revolutions in several post-Soviet republics including Ukraine.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: Armenian, Karabakh, Reuters Locations: Russia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Moscow, Baku, Armenia, Yerevan, Azerbaijan, Russian, United States, Ukraine

☆ Russia 'closely monitoring' tense situation in Kosovo - Kremlin
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Kosovo police officers stand guard on the road to Banjska monastery, in the aftermath of a shooting incident, near Zvecan, Kosovo September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday it was closely monitoring what it called a "potentially dangerous" situation in Kosovo, where ethnic Serb gunmen stormed a village at the weekend, battling police and barricading themselves into a monastery. Russia does not recognise Kosovo, which has a majority ethnic Albanian population, as an independent country and traditionally supports Serbia, with which it has close religious and cultural ties. The situation is very, very tense and potentially dangerous, we are monitoring it very closely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing. Ethnic Albanians form the vast majority of the 1.8 million population of Kosovo, a former province of Serbia.

Persons: Ognen, Dmitry Peskov, Gareth Jones, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Kosovar, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Banjska, Zvecan, Kosovo, Russia, Serbia, Belgrade, Kosovo Albanian, Serbian

☆ Russia 'closely monitoring' tense situation in Kosovo, blames local authorities
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kosovo police officers stand guard on the road to Banjska monastery, in the aftermath of a shooting incident, near Zvecan, Kosovo September 25, 2023. Russia does not recognise Kosovo, which has a majority ethnic Albanian population, as an independent country and traditionally supports Serbia, with which it has close religious and cultural ties. The situation is very, very tense and potentially dangerous, we are monitoring it very closely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing. Ethnic Albanians form the vast majority of the 1.8 million population of Kosovo, a former province of Serbia. The ministry said Kurti was trying to escalate the situation in order to increase pressure on Serbs to recognise Kosovo's independence.

Persons: Ognen, Dmitry Peskov, Albin Kurti, Kurti, Gareth Jones, Maxim Rodionov, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Kosovar, Kosovo, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Banjska, Zvecan, Kosovo, Russia, Serbia, Belgrade, Kosovo Albanian, Serbian, Serbs

☆ Kremlin says Canadian recognition of veteran from Nazi unit is 'outrageous'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Yaroslav Hunka, 98, received two standing ovations from Canadian lawmakers during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the episode showed a careless disregard for historical truth, and that the memory of Nazi crimes must be preserved. "Many Western countries, including Canada, have raised a young generation that does not know who fought whom or what happened during the Second World War. Canadian parliament speaker Anthony Rota introduced Hunka as "a Ukrainian Canadian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians" and "a Ukrainian hero and a Canadian hero." During World War Two, when Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, some Ukrainian nationalists joined Nazi units because they saw the Germans as liberators from Soviet oppression.

Persons: Adolf Hitler's Waffen, Yaroslav Hunka, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Dmitry Peskov, Peskov, Anthony Rota, Hunka, Simon Wiesenthal, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: Adolf Hitler's Waffen SS, Ukrainian, Nazi, Waffen Grenadier Division, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Ukrainian, Canada, Ukrainian Canadian, Canadian, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Rota, European, Russia, Europe

☆ U.S. Senator Peters expresses concern about Nagorno-Karabakh situation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEAR KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. senator, leading a congressional delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border on Saturday, said international observers were needed to monitor the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that people were "very fearful" about what was happening there. Gary Peters, a U.S. senator leading a congressional delegation to the Armenia-Azerbaijan frontier to monitor the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, uses binoculars to look at a border-crossing point on a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia, September 23, 2023. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze Acquire Licensing Rights"I am certainly very concerned about what’s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh right now, I think there needs to be some visibility," Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, told reporters on the border. Russia said earlier that Armenian fighters in Karabakh had started to give up arms as some humanitarian aid reached the 120,000 Armenians living there after Azerbaijan defeated their forces. Reporting by Felix Light; Writing by Alexander Marrow Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gary Peters, Irakli, Felix Light, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Democrat, Azerbaijan, Thomson Locations: KORNIDZOR, Armenia, U.S, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Karabakh, Kornidzor, Michigan, Russia

☆ Russia says Karabakh Armenian fighters start giving up arms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The armed formations of Karabakh have begun handing over weapons and military equipment under the control of Russian peacekeepers," said Russia, which has around 2,000 peacekeepers in Karabakh. Russia's defence ministry said so far six armoured vehicles, more than 800 guns, about 5,000 units of ammunition were handed over by the fighters. Armenians in Karabakh told Reuters that they were essentially besieged in the region, with little food, electricity or fuel - and called on big powers to help them. Azerbaijan envisages an amnesty for Karabakh Armenian fighters who give up their arms and has said the Armenians can leave the region for Armenia if they want. Thousands of Karabakh Armenians have massed at the airport seeking the protection of Russian peacekeepers there.

Persons: Irakli, Cross, Nikol Pashinyan, Antony Blinken, Karapetyan, Svetlana Alaverdyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Karabakh, ICRC, Azerbaijan, International Committee, Reuters, Nagorno, United, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Karabakh, Tegh, Russia, KORNIDZOR, Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Baku, United States, Nagorno, Kusapat, Arajadzor

☆ Karabakh Armenians say ceasefire being implemented, aid is arriving
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Earlier, the Karabakh Armenians held another round of talks with Azerbaijani officials in the town of Shusha, three days after the ceasefire that followed a lightning 24-hour offensive in which Baku retook control of the mountainous region. Armenians say they fear they will be persecuted if they stay. "Today we were thrown out into the street - they made us vagabonds," Karapetyan told Armenia A1+, a partner of Reuters. Thousands of Karabakh Armenians have massed at the airport seeking the protection of Russian peacekeepers there. "They were shooting on the right, they were shooting on the left - we went out one after another, without taking clothes," she told Armenia A1+.

Persons: Cross, Elshad Hajiyev, Irakli, Gary Peters, We've, Peters, Nikol Pashinyan, Hikmet Hajiyev, Karapetyan, Svetlana Alaverdyan, Guy Faulconbridge, Alexander Marrow, Gareth Jones Organizations: ICRC, Karabakh, International Committee, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Democrat, Nagorno, Thomson Locations: Russia, Karabakh, KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Shusha, Baku, Artsakh, Moscow, Kornidzor, Michigan, Kusapat, Arajadzor

☆ Two dead, including bystander, in gang-related shooting in Sweden
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Police officers secure the area outside of a restaurant following a shooting in Sandviken, eastern Sweden September 22, 2023. The spokesperson said they were searching for a lone gunman but that no arrests had yet been made in connection with the shooting. Police has said about 30,000 people in Sweden are directly involved with or have ties to gang crime. The violence has also spread from major urban areas to smaller towns where violent crime was previously a rare occurrence. Reporting by Anna Ringstrom amd Johan Ahlander Editing by Peter Graff and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Henrik Hansson, Ulf Kristersson, Kristersson, Anna Ringstrom, Johan, Peter Graff, Gareth Jones Organizations: Police, TT News Agency, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, TT, Thomson Locations: Sandviken, Sweden, Rights STOCKHOLM, Stockholm

☆ Polish PM tells Ukraine's Zelenskiy 'never to insult Poles again'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Alan Charlish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish President Andrzej Duda commemorate victims of World War II at the Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Lutsk, Ukraine July 9, 2023. REUTERS/Alina Smutko/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWARSAW, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Poland's prime minister told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday not to "insult" Poles, maintaining harsh rhetoric towards Kyiv after the Polish president had sought to defuse a simmering row over grain imports. "I... want to tell President Zelenskiy never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the U.N.," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told an election rally. Slovakia, Poland and Hungary imposed national restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports after the European Union executive decided not to extend its ban on imports into those countries and fellow EU members Bulgaria and Romania. "In defence of the Polish farmer I will never hesitate to take such a decision."

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Andrzej Duda, Saint Peter, Paul Cathedral, Alina Smutko, Zelenskiy, Mateusz Morawiecki, PiS, Duda, Zbigniew Rau, Rau, Morawiecki, Alan Charlish, Pawel, Alex Richardson, Jonathan Oatis, Gareth Jones Organizations: Saint, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations General Assembly, Kyiv, Law and Justice, Analysts, Politico, NATO, European Union, EU, Warsaw, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Lutsk, Poland, Russia, New York, Moscow, Kyiv, Polish, Ukrainian, UKRAINE, Warsaw, EU, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania

☆ Former Italian president Napolitano dies aged 98
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Former Italian President and senator Giorgio Napolitano speaks following a talk with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, April 13, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Former Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, a onetime communist who helped to steer his country through a debt crisis in 2011, died on Friday aged 98. Condolences poured in from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office, other politicians, the Vatican and beyond. Napolitano became president in 2006 and was elected for an unprecedented second seven-year term in 2013. Reporting by Angelo Amante; writing by Keith Weir and Angelo Amante Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Giorgio Napolitano, Sergio Mattarella, Tony Gentile, Giorgia, Pope Francis, Napolitano's, Clio Bittoni, Napolitano, Pope Benedict XVI, Francis, Mario Monti, Silvio Berlusconi, Enrico Letta, Angelo Amante, Keith Weir, Gareth Jones Organizations: Italian, REUTERS, Rights, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, Italian

☆ Ukraine war expected to have bigger impact on European economies - Swiss study
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) building is seen near the Limmat river in Zurich, Switzerland March 23, 2023. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Europe has seen a surge in energy prices, financial market turmoil and a sharp contraction in the economies of both Russia and Ukraine, the report said. "The negative consequences of the war are likely to be far greater in the medium-to-long term, especially with regard to the real economy," the study said. France would have seen inflation 0.3% lower and GDP 0.1% higher without the conflict, while Italian inflation would have been 0.2% lower and GDP 0.3% higher. Swiss GDP would have been 0.3% higher and inflation 0.4% lower without the war, the study added.

Persons: Denis Balibouse, John Revill, Alex Richardson, Gareth Jones Organizations: Swiss National Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Europe, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Swiss

"This shift, towards the courts, prosecutors and law enforcement units, shows that hackers are gathering evidence about Russian war crimes in Ukraine" with a view to following Ukraine's investigations, he added. Russian hackers have prioritised targeting government bodies and trying to gain access to their e-mail servers, Shchyhol said, without elaborating. An attempt by a Russian intelligence hacking group dubbed "Sandworm" to launch a destructive cyberattack against Ukraine's electricity grid was thwarted in April, 2022. Shchyhol said his department saw evidence that Russian hackers were accessing private security cameras within Ukraine to monitor the outcome of long-range missile and drone strikes. "You need to understand that the cyber war will not end even after Ukraine wins on the battlefield," Shchyhol said.

Persons: Ivan Lyubysh, Yurii Shchyhol, There's, Shchyhol, Vladimir Putin, Tom Balmforth, James Pearson, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: State Service of, Reuters, REUTERS, Ukrainian, State Service of Special Communications, Foreign Ministry, Federal Security Service, Court, ICC, Kremlin, Russia, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, LONDON, Russia, Netherlands, Russian, Ukrainian, London

☆ Russia plans huge defence spending hike in 2024, Bloomberg reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Defence Minister Alexei Krivoruchko and other officials, attends the Gunsmith Forum in the city of Izhevsk, Russia September 19, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSept 22 (Reuters) - Russia plans a huge hike in defence spending next year, swelling to 6% of gross domestic product (GDP), up from 3.9% in 2023 and 2.7% in 2021, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Moscow doubled its target for defence spending in 2023 to more than $100 billion, Reuters reported exclusively in August, as the costs of the war in Ukraine spiral and place growing strain on Moscow's finances. Rising war costs are supporting Russia's modest economic recovery this year with higher industrial production, but have already pushed budget finances to a deficit of around $24 billion - a figure compounded by falling export revenues. Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Denis Manturov, Alexei Krivoruchko, Mikhail Metzel, Urvi, Alexander Marrow, Andrew Cawthorne, Gareth Jones Organizations: Sputnik, REUTERS Acquire, Bloomberg, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Izhevsk, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Bengaluru

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in eastern Hangzhou city, in this handout picture released by Sana on September 22, 2023, Syria. China, the world's second-largest economy, will also support Syria's reconstruction, Chinese state media reported Xi as saying. In Chinese diplomacy, a "strategic partnership" implies closer coordination on regional and international affairs, including in the military sphere. But analysts said there was likely to be a limit to how far Beijing would help Damascus beyond recovering its regional status. "That is not part of China's role identity in the Middle East, which is to try and have a role without taking sides."

Persons: Xi Jinping, Bashar al, Sana, Handout, Syria's Assad, Assad, Xi, Caesar, Matteo Legrenzi, Joe Cash, Ella Cao, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Saudi, Initiative, University of Venice, Thomson Locations: Assad, Hangzhou, Syria, Beijing, China, BEIJING, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Damascus, Ca'Foscari

[1/2] Vehicles of Russian peacekeepers leaving Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region for Armenia pass an Armenian checkpoint on a road near the village of Kornidzor, Armenia September 22, 2023. Images of fleeing Armenians at Russia's own peacekeeping base at an airport in Nagorno-Karabakh have been harder for them to watch. But its handling of the Karabakh crisis has forced it into a blame game with Armenia and obliged it to defend its foreign policy in the region. It now accuses him of triggering the crisis by saying - after Russian peacekeepers were deployed to Karabakh in 2020 following Armenia's defeat in a 44-day war - that he recognised Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Baku has long argued that Karabakh falls within its own borders, but Karabakh Armenians wanted Pashinyan to recognise their independence and unify them with Armenia.

Persons: Irakli, Alexander Baunov, Russia's, Sergei Markov, Pashinyan, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Margarita Simonyan, Andrew Osborn, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, Armenian, Soviet, Carnegie, Karabakh, Protesters, Kremlin, Russian, Security Council, NATO, Thomson Locations: Karabakh, Armenia, Kornidzor, Russia, Azerbaijan Moscow, Kabul, U.S, Afghanistan, Nagorno, Turkish, Moscow, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, South Caucasus, Stepanakert, Russian, America, Baku ., Yerevan, Baku, Pashinyan

☆ Turkey says it played no direct role in Karabakh operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Azerbaijan mounted a lightning offensive to retake control of its breakaway Karabakh region on Tuesday. On Wednesday, NATO ally Turkey publicly threw its support behind Baku's "steps to preserve its territorial integrity" but it had been unclear whether Ankara played any active role in the 24-hour military operation. "It was Azerbaijan army's own operation, there was no direct involvement of Turkey," a Turkish defence ministry official told reporters on Thursday. The move was condemned by Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine. In a phone call with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev late on Wednesday, Erdogan reiterated Turkey's "heartfelt support" of Azerbaijan, his office said.

Persons: Siranush Sargsyan, Tayyip Erdogan, Baku's, Nikol, Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan, Turkey's, Huseyin Hayatsever, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson Organizations: Rights, NATO, United Nations General Assembly, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Stepanakert, Nagorno, Karabakh, Rights ANKARA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkish, Ankara, Azerbaijani, Russian, Baku, Yerevan, New York, Ukraine

Were he to follow through on his promise, it would represent a sea-change for Slovakia, until now a staunch ally of its eastern neighbour Ukraine in its war against Russia. Bratislava has supplied weapons and offered strong political support to Kyiv within the European Union and NATO. Western diplomats and officials in Kyiv also say a small country like Slovakia can only go so far in upending EU and NATO policy. Disinformation, meanwhile, has spread, undermining public support for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion of 2022, said Katarina Klingova of think-tank Globsec. The hoax was debunked, but the reaction pointed to the influence that false information surrounding the Ukraine war has among Slovakia's 5.5 million population.

Persons: Robert Fico, Radovan Stoklasa, Robert Fico's, Fico, Eleonora Tanacova, Viktor Orban, Orban, Katarina Klingova, Klingova, Andrew Gray, Thomas Balmforth, Mike Collett, White, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, EU, European Union, Russia, Moscow, Hungarian, Progressive, Ukraine, Thomson Locations: Banovce nad Bebravou, Slovakia, Russian, Ukraine Brussels, Ukraine, Slovakian, Russia, Bratislava, Kyiv, Crimea, EU, Brussels, Moscow, Donbas, Luhansk, Western, Europe, Hungary, Progressive Slovakia

☆ Azerbaijan pounds Karabakh as Russia and US call for calm
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ethnic Armenians in Karabakh said Azerbaijan had triggered a new war against the 120,000 people living in an area they consider their homeland. Armenians in Karabakh, known by Armenians as Artsakh, said fighting was continuing with varying intensity. As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Karabakh War erupted (1988-1994) between Armenians and their Azeri neighbours. RUSSIAIn 2020, after decades of skirmishes, energy-rich Azerbaijan began a military operation which became the Second Karabakh War, swiftly breaking through Armenian defences. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, won a resounding victory in the 44-day war, taking back parts of Karabakh.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Karabakh, Antony Blinken, Ilham Aliyev, Pashinyan, Aliyev, Blinken, Antonio Guterres, Baku's, Guy Faulconbridge, Lidia Kelly, Chris Reese, Lincoln, Gareth Jones Organizations: Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence, Azerbaijan, Wednesday, Nagorno, Armenian, U.S, Washington, Residents, United Nations, European Union, TASS, Thomson Locations: Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Russia, U.S, Azerbaijan, YEREVAN, United States, Baku, Yerevan, Turkey, Ukraine, Soviet Union, South Caucasus, Iran, Artsakh, Russian, France, Germany, RUSSIA, Moscow, Melbourne

☆ Israeli-Palestinian violence surges ahead of Netanyahu-Biden meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Gunmen hold weapons during the funeral of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli raid, in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank September 20,2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta Acquire Licensing RightsJENIN, West Bank, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a 19-year-old Palestinian during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, medics and residents said, as violence surged ahead of a first meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden. The Palestinian killed near the town of Jericho was shot as troops faced off with stone-throwers, according to residents, though his family said he had not taken part. He was the sixth Palestinian killed in confrontations with Israel since Tuesday. Israel's U.S. ally is troubled by his judicial overhaul plans and Jewish settlement of the West Bank.

Persons: Raneen, Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Biden, Netanyahu, Dan Williams, Ali, Gareth Jones Organizations: West, REUTERS, West Bank, U.S, Security, General, Thomson Locations: Jenin, JENIN, West, Palestinian, Jericho, Israel, U.S

☆ Slovakia Struggles With Surge in Illegal Migrants as Election Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"They don't want to live or work here, they are in transit, they rush through as they can," said Jozsef Barta, 70. Although he knew of no criminal incidents involving the migrants, he added: "People are scared to walk in the street." The number of illegal migrants detained in Slovakia has increased ninefold from a year ago to more than 27,000 so far this year, the country's interior ministry said. Hungarian police data also showed a jump in illegal migrant crossings on Hungary's southern border with Serbia in the past weeks, from where they head for Slovakia or Austria. Slovak police patrols are helping their Hungarian colleagues to catch the smugglers but that has proven little deterrent.

Persons: Jozsef Barta, Renata Gregusova, Robert Fico, Fico, Marian Cehelnik, Viktor Orban, Krisztina, Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka, Gareth Jones Organizations: European Union, Europe's, Police, Reuters, EU Locations: CHLABA, Slovakia, IPOLYDAMASD, Hungary, Chlaba, Germany, Hungarian, Slovak, Europe, Czech Republic, East, Afghanistan, Serbia, Austria, EU, Prague

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